Twisted Moonlight
by BlueAlpha54
Summary: Spending time at the Sheridan Halloween Festival, Sonic and his friends witness the rare red moon. However, things go wrong when the moon brings everyone's shadows to life and the shadows began to devour souls. Will Sonic and his friends be able to find the chaos emeralds and figure out what what was the spark for the entire situation? OCs only play a minor part in this story.


Author's Notes: Sorry that I haven't published any new stories or chapters in a long while. That's what happens when real life is more important than sitting in front of a computer just to write a fanfic. Anyways, I probably won't publish the next chapters until next October, as I feel that is the only time I like to write horror stories. Also, it would give me the time to write better fight scenes; as I admit that is my biggest weak-point. If you guys have any pointers on how to make better fighting scenes, feel free to do so. Despite how anxious I was to write this chapter (since it's been a long while); I will welcome any criticism; just as long as you explain what's wrong with the overall story or a specific chapter.

One last thing, I am potentially thinking about making a third Sonic horror story; as I already got a few different theme ideas. Also, it would especially make up for the fact that this story won't be fully published here until next year.

* * *

Today was the perfect time to crave some pumpkins, eat candy, dress up as anyone or anything, and even go to a Halloween festival. At the Sheridan Halloween Festival, tents were lined up next to a dirt path. There was also a concert stand; which was currently empty, and a carnival bell surrounded by a small white fence and some hay. Many of the leaves began to shift into the different colors of Autumn. As a tradition of this season, some of the leaves had fallen off the tress and onto the grass. Off into the distance and towards the right; there was a tractor ride and a corn maze. While it was sill bright outside during this moment, the light seemed a bit dimmer than earlier ago. Thankfully, the area wasn't too crowded today; which was a good thing for two certain hedgehogs.

The blue and pink hedgehogs walked to the entrance of a large building; which was disguised as a haunted mansions. Thick black curtains covered the windows; despite the windows not playing any part of the actual attraction. Fake spider webs were thrown across the entire building and secured in place to make sure the wind didn't blow them away. Plastic jack-o-lanterns and fake ghosts rested at the ground, next to the entrance. The exit was from the left side of the place; which didn't have as much attention put to it. Once they opened the door and made it inside, they saw that the entrance room was pretty standard; a wide open room with basic wood panel walls and a concrete floor. Ahead of them were two separate doors; the right door being the door they needed to enter first. At the right corner was the information center; which was a basic wooden table, with a woman waiting for anyone that required help or info. However, because the two mobians didn't need require anything, they just walked through the room and into the attraction itself.

As they walked through the decorated hallway; which was painted violet and had painted sketches of the different creatures of Halloween, they were beginning to enter the point of no return; until they found the exit of course. Continuing to walk through the place and around a corner; a voice blared on the hidden speakers.

"Welcome you fools! You choose the wrong mansion to explore! If you don't want us to feed you to our master, I would suggest finding the exit! That is; if you hearts don't abandonee your bodies, first! Ah ha ha ha ha!"

Amy Rose, who was holding tight onto Sonic; to make sure he didn't try to escape, spun her head around to meet Sonic's face.

"Remember Sonic...don't attack any of the actors or machines. You remember what happened back at the hay ride," Amy said.

"Yeah yeah...I remember," Sonic replied; shrugging his shoulders.

What Amy just told Sonic about the hay ride had occurred two hours ago. As the tractor was driving through a dirt path; surrounded by many tress and attraction props, the guests rode at the back. While the ride kept Amy's attention, Sonic was silently sleeping on the hay; not finding this slow trip to be his style. For the while, nothing was too out of the ordinary; for a ride that opened exclusively for the month. As the driver kept his eyes on the path, the guests suddenly heard a familiar sound fill the air; it was that of a chainsaw. Jumping out of the trees, the masked man ran towards them, easily catching up to them. The guests screamed for their lives; fearing that they would lose their heads and never see their loved ones ever again. The piercing sound of the screams woke up Sonic, who quickly saw the maniac. Just as the man was about to grab the wood railings, Sonic jumped into him; catching everyone by surprise. The chainsaw was sent flying; bouncing off a tree and continuing to produce the noise.

Once the masked person was on the ground; with the mobian's foot on his stomach, Sonic gave a little speech.

"I don't think anyone appreciates you trying to ruin their day! What would you say if someone ruined Halloween for you; by killing one of YOUR family members? Are you going to apologize and walk away from her peacefully?" Sonic exclaimed, pointing at him.

Looking rather mad, Amy pulled out her piko piko hammer and jumped off the ride.

"Get off me!" the man said; trying to push the hedgehog off of him.

"Not until-"

Before Sonic could finish, he felt solid metal slamming into his skull; causing pain to flood through his head.

"Sonic! That's an actor! You just ruined the fun! Now apologize to that man!" Amy shouted, placing the hammer by her side.

Doing what he was told, Sonic lifted his foot off the costumed actor. Getting off the ground, the man dusted himself and lifted his mask.

"Is he supposed to be your friend?" the guy asked; looking a bit annoyed.

"More than that; he's my boyfriend!" Amy answered.

"We're not a couple! Amy's just trying to-" Sonic tried to explain.

"So you two are lovebirds? Don't let this happen again, you hear? By the way, I need to grab that dummy chainsaw. That noise is starting to get on my nerves."

As the actor placed his mask back on and went for the fake chainsaw, Amy yelled to him; waving at him.

"Don't worry about it! I won't let Sonic make this mistake again!"

Sonic sighed; a person thinking that he was in love with someone who forced him to go on a date at the festival.

Back in the present time, the hedgehog couple walked through another narrow hallway. As their footsteps faintly echoed; drowned out by the noise of screaming and music, they saw a bedroom ahead of them. When they walked through the entrance, they saw how old the room was. There was alone bed with thick white curtains surrounding the entire furniture. The mirror at the makeup dresser was missing; with perfume bottles scattered around on the table, some of them on their sides. Not only that, there was also an old wood table that only had a picture frame and a partially melted candle resting on the surface. Deciding to take the time to search the place, it wouldn't take long before an animatronics monster attached on a metal pole would suddenly pop out of the bed curtains and produce a freighting scream. The 'monster' had green skin, thick pointy ears pointing towards the roof, and teeth that put a vampire's to shame. Pretending to be terrified, Amy screamed and jumped at the blue hedgehog; hugging him tightly.

"Sonic! It's a monster! Protect me from that thing!" Amy yelled.

Staring at the animatronics, the thing quickly readjusted itself back to its hiding spot. Sonic could tell that Amy was faking her reaction; though that was part of the fun. His friend wasn't going to go through this experience with a straight face; it just wouldn't have been right.

At the carnival bell, the sky was so ever becoming dimmer. It also seemed like there would be a sunset at any moment. The base of the carnival bell was orange, with some green painted onto the metal frame. The metal weight used to strike the bell was left untouched; showing its copper color. A man dressed as a vampire; with a top hat and a monocle, was waiting patiently for more guests. Despite assuming most of them had already given this mini-game a try, he figured that someone would eventually show up; before the Vanishan band would set up their concert. The guy yawned, finding that things had gotten pretty boring now. Taking out a looking towards the horizon, he didn't notice a red echidna moving towards him. Not seeing the mobian, he looked at the ground and rested his chin on his left hand.

"How about letting me give that a try?"

Looking up, he saw Knuckles staring right at this face.

"Well then," the host said, lifting that rubber hammer that was next to him, "Step right up and try your best to ring that bell; by pushing that weight all the way up with one swing!"

Knuckles simply placed his hand in front of the guy.

"Thank you for the offer, but I don't need it! I only need my own strength!" Knuckles said, cracking his own knuckles.

"Well then, you just got my interest!"

Walking up to the little metal arm, the echidna slammed his fist at the center point. The weight came into contact with the bell in only a second, then falling back to the start.

"Well, count my turkeys...you deserve more candy than the others!"

"Is candy the only thing you have?" Knuckles asked, seeing the host throw the rubber hammer and away and reach behind the bell for a bucket of candy.

"Do you not like candy?" the host asked, pulling out some candy.

"It's not that...I just thought you would have some cooler prizes. Like say...a plastic emerald with my face carved on it." Knuckles explained.

"Sorry, but nope! Though, I do like that idea. Maybe next time, for you."

"Well then, I'll give some of this to Tails," Knuckles said, grabbing the candy. "Farewell for now!" Knuckles said, walking away from the scene.

Over at a plastic table; with multiple other kids, Tails was carving his own pumpkin. The boy was busily working on it, not daring to look away. He was creating a shape similar to that of a plane; the Tornado in fact.

"Just a few more touches here and I will be...done!" Tails shouted, placing the carving tool on the table and rubbing his gloves together, "I can't wait till Sonic sees this!"

"Hey, Tails, I got you some candy!"

Turning around, Tails saw that it was one of his friends; Knuckles the Echidna.

"Hello. I just finished something that you may find interesting," Tails mentioned, moving out of the way.

Noticing what was carved on the pumpkin; or what was now a jack-o-lantern, Knuckles pointed to it and asked a question.

"Isn't that an image of the Tornado?"

"Yep! Pretty cool, huh?"

"I must give a hand to you; you're brilliant, even when you're not working on something mechanical."

"You didn't have to compliment me that much, but thank you anyways."

"Wait...don't you have to remove those seeds afterwards? What good is a jack-o-lantern if you can't place a candle inside it?"

"Don't worry about that. I already pulled out as much as possible. Right now, they're roasting those seeds. Mmmmm...I love roasted pumpkin seeds!" Tails answered.

"What about candy, then?" Knuckles replied, brining out his filled hand.

"That as well," Tails said, smiling.

Near the festival was an uninhabited area that too was facing the climate of Fall. There was a nearby pond and the grass seemed to have been recently trimmed. It was a rather peaceful place, unaffected by the commotion of the festival, but even a place like this was not entirely safe. Out of nowhere, a scarecrow with Sonic's face drawn on it was sent flying. Shadow the Hedgehog teleported from thin air and kicked the object into the ground. Then, he grabbed it by the head and flung into the branches of an unsuspecting tree.

"Hmpth! When our next duel arrives, I don't intend to lose this time; faker," Shadow whispered.

Resting his back on a tree trunk, he wouldn't get the chance to close his eyes; hearing his GUN communicator go off. Turning on the device, he directed his attention to the GUN general.

"Hello there, Shadow. Where are you right now?"

"I'm at the Sheridan Halloween Festival," Shadow mentioned.

"Is Rouge there with you?"

"No. However, a few acquaintances of mine arrived with me."

"Very well then. I'll warn Rouge of a new situation that was just reported to me."

"Explain the details to me," Shadow demanded.

"That's what I was going to do anyways. Shadow, it is in your best interest to protect your friends. From what I just heard, many people were found dead at Richino City. However, they weren't brutally murdered or were involved in an accident. It almost seems as if someone devoured their souls. That seems to be the most likely theory I've been hearing so far," the general explained.

"Do you know what the culprit looks like?" Shadow said.

"Sorry, but we haven't found any hints of what the person or thing resembles. I'll contact you again when I find more to this situation."

Shadow turned off the communicator, placing it away and getting some rest for the day.

Many minutes passed by; the sun was beginning to set. Finally leaving the building, Amy looked at the concert stage from a distance. By now, there were instruments and a microphone set up; the band ready to play very soon.

"Are we done with our date, now?" Sonic asked, tapping his fingers on his cheek.

"Don't be so impatient! I heard that the Vanishan Band will be playing soon. Once we see them perform, than we can call it an end for the day," Amy responded.

All the blue mobian could do is tilt his head around and look disappointed.

"Why don't we get some cotton candy, while we're still at it?" Amy said.

"Sure thing. While I would prefer a chilidog, this place doesn't have any! Cotton candy will have to do."

The two spent the time to travel to the cotton candy stand; which wasn't far from the carnival bell.

"Two please," Amy said.

"Sure thing. Coming right up," the service woman said.

Grabbing for two cones, Amy pulled out a small enough cash for payment. Swirling up the cotton candy in almost no time, the woman handed them the cones and received the money.

"Thank you for the candy," Amy replied.

"You're welcome," the woman said.

Walking away a bit, they found a spot to quietly eat the cotton candy.

"So Sonic...is there anything else you want to do here?" Amy mentioned, then bit into the candy.

"Nah, I'm fine here!" Sonic answered.

"Hey, Sonic, you should check this out!"

Noticing Knuckles and Tails, the two hedgehogs saw the jack-o-lantern in Tails's hands.

"*Whistle* That's cool, Tails!" Sonic shouted.

"I figured that you would like," Tails said, "I'll take it home with me. If you want to see this again, feel free to stop by my house," Tails also said, putting it away.

"So...where's Shadow, anyways?" Knuckles mentioned.

"Probably snoozing somewhere not far from here. He did agree to go with us, just to make sure nothing bad happens," Sonic said.

"It's a shame. He's going to be missing out on what the band's possibly playing tonight!" Amy responded.

Much time passed by and the surrounding area was lit in orange and yellow lighting. A group of four people wearing brown jackets and black sweat pants walked up to the stage; organizing everything in place. A large crowd of people; including Sonic and his friends, were lined up to watch the live performance. Once they felt they were ready, the band leader grabbed the microphone and began to speak.

"Are we ready to rock out tonight?"

Many people began to cheer.

"Just to make sure...are you guys truly ready for the rock?"

The cheers were even louder, fists pumping into the air.

"This will be the night of our lives! The red moon will be showing tonight! So, let's get this party started; humans and monsters alike!"

The performance would go on long enough for the red moon to shine through the dark sky. With one last swipe on the electric guitar strings and lifting the instrument into the air; the singer yelled, "Red Moon!". The applause were loud, having enjoyed the festival in general; this being the sprinkles on the ice cream.

"Ha! It looks like Shadow missed out on this one!" Sonic said, stretching his legs.

"That was fun! We should go look for him, now," Amy replied.

"Got to admit, that red moon is pretty cool; you don't see that often!" Knuckles said, looking at the planetary object.

Before he could do anything else, their shadows started to move and lift themselves from the ground. Noticing that there were shadowy beings approaching from the backs of the band, the crowd screamed.

"There are monsters behind you!"

The warnings were too late, the featureless shadows; their only defining features being their glowing yellow eyes, grabbed them by the throats and crushed their wind pipes. Absorbing the souls of the band, the shadows began to take on more defining features; to the point of coming dangerously close to almost resembling the people they just murdered. The only differences with these guys now were the fact that their clothes and body were still made out of darkness. Then, the other shadows followed order and rose from the ground. Sonic and his friends came starting face to face with their own living shadows.

"Amy...Tails...Knuckles, protect the crowd! We'll be fighting off these guys as long as we can!"

His friends nodded, getting ready for the next move these shadows would make. Amy pulled out her hammer; with the shadow doing the same thing. When the crowd began to scream even louder, they began to fled in multiple directions. Like a blood sucking creature of the night, the shadows began to chase and leap after everyone else who were still alive. Already, many people were being tackled down to the ground or having their throats crushed. Amy's shadow sung at Amy; barely jumping out of the way and into another shadow. Quickly getting up, she swung at the being and sent it flying across the grass. Getting back up, it ran towards Amy; with Amy's shadow right behind her.

Knuckles punched anything living shadow that came towards him and any that tried to grab onto him were thrown in other ones.

As a small group of people were fleeing, some shadow chased after them. When hope seemed lost for them, Tails quickly flew in front of them and slammed his two tails into them, knocking them onto their backs. What he didn't know was that his shadow stopped in front of the crowd and claimed one of their lives. With that awful snapping noise, Tails turned around to see that he failed to protect another human.

"You...you monster!"

Tails flew towards it, only for the shadow to take the skies.

As for Sonic; as a man was down on the ground, almost certain to be marked as dead, Sonic jumped into the shadow. Grabbing it, he threw it across what remained of the festival. Suddenly, his shadow kicked his side and both were sent fighting onto the ground. With the shadow kicking his off, Sonic ran off into the distance; the shadow giving chase.

Let's see who's the better hedgehog!"

What seemed like forever; Amy was continuing to fight off her Shadow, showing exhaustion. Just when it seemed like Amy was keeping up a good defensive position, the shadow swings faster than she could keep up and is knocked down; losing her hammer. There was almost no time to breathe, as the shadow was already staring at her, ready to watch her die painfully. Seeing no other option, Amy quickly kicked across the ground; catching the shadow off guard. When it quickly corrected its footing, Amy punched as hard as she could, causing it to slowly disintegrate back into the ground. Catching her breath, she looked at her shadow, which had been merely stopped for now.

"That thing's still alive! For now, though, that thing is probably waiting until its strength returns."

Seeing her hammer in sight, she rushed towards it and manages to reclaim it. She took a look to see that many people had failed to escape their predators. Also, Tails was still fighting off his own shadow in the air.

Both of the Tails tried to punch each other in the air. While the shadow landed in a few hits earlier ago, Tails himself was doing better. With one last turn made in the air, they flew towards each other.

"I won't let you take anymore lives! You've gone too far!" Tails shouted.

Narrowly avoiding the shadow's under kick, Tails slammed his fists into its head and caused it to crash into the ground. Defeated, it returned to its original form; for now. Landing back on the ground, Tails was panting from exhaustion. The fox noticed that Knuckles also just defeated his own shadow as well.

"Knuckles...this is bad! These guys...do not give up...easily!" Tails yelled.

"They just keep coming! Some of these guys are gone now, but most of them are still on their feet!" Knuckles shouted, barely avoid a choke hold from one of the shadows.

Amy ran towards them, feeling very despaired about the situation.

"Where's Sonic and Shadow? I hope they're still alive!" Amy said.

Getting her answer, Sonic came rocketing in, creating a Sonic Tornado. However, one of the shadows kicked him in the back and caused him to slide towards his friends.

"Man! These shadows are tough!" Sonic mentioned, getting up; looking injured.

"I think we distracted these guys for long enough! We're getting out of here, now!" Knuckles responded.

Suddenly, Shadow teleported in.

"Shadow? Where have you been? I was worried!" Amy yelled.

"I'll talk about that later! Chaos Control!"

With a blinding flash, they disappeared; before the shadows could get a chance to finish any of the mobians off. With most of the shadows satisfied with their collection, they walked off into the distance to assist their comrades.


End file.
